Refrigerator



(No Model.) y J. A. BALDWIN.

` REPRIGBRATOR.

No. 276,7 52.v Y' vPatented May 1, A18:83. i

\ WITNESSBS; f A INVENTOR; 9 l `1` mC/Sm@ f I 'ATTORNEYS UN ATES iPATENT erica.

Jonson BALDWIN or sHELBURNE, VERMONT.

R e Furets RATO R.

To all whom it may concern: l

Be it known that-I, JUDsoN A. BALDWIN: a citizen of the United States,residing at Shelburne, in the'countylof Chittenden and State@ ofVermont, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinRefrigerators; and I1 do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled inv the art to which it appertains tomake and use thesame, reference being had to the accom panyingdrawiugs,and to letters orfigures of reference marked thereomwhich form a part of this specitication.

My invention relates to an improvement in refrigerators; and it consistsin the combination of a pivoted cut-off, which is located inthe opening`made in the top of one side ot' theice box, with a connecting-rod whichisattached' thereto, and which isprovided with one or more projections,suitable springs'for pressing downward upon the operating-levers, andsuitable crank-levers which are operated at their lower ends by thedoors of the provision-room,` and whiclicatch at their upper endsoverthe operating-rod for the purpose of raising the rod and opening thecut-oli', as will be more fully described hereinafter. y

The object of my invention is to automaticallyT open and close thecut-oft that is placed between the ice-chamber and the provisionroom, sothat when the door of the provisionroom is `opened a springactuatedlever will instantly cause the cutoff to close, so as to prevent warmair from entering the ice-chamber, and to open the cut-oft' as soon asthe door is closed, so as torestore the circulation of air.

In the accompanyingdrawings,in which similar letters ot' referenceindicate like parts, Figure l is a perspective of a refrigeratorembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is avertical crosssection of the same.

A represents arefrigerator provided with the ice-chamber B in onecorner. Through the upper innerv side otl this ice-chamber is made asuitable opening, C, through'which the warm air which has risen to thetop of the provisionchamber passes into the ice-chamber. This chamberhas an inclined bottom, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, so as tocarry off the `water from the melting ice, and leading from this bottom,at one side, is a suitable air due or passage, through which the coldair from the icep `Application filedJ'ariuary15,18E3. (Model.)

I chamber passes down into the provision-chamber in the usual manner. Inthe upper open- `ing, C, is placed the pivote'd cut-ott D, which issohung that it eft'ectually closes the opening, except when itis forcedopen by means of the action of the rod E, whenthe door of theprovision-chamber is closed.` The upper end of this rod is fastened to ashort connecting rod or link, which is hookedinto an eye in the loweredge of theecut-offD, and the lower end ofthe rod passes through theupper end ot' all of the crank-levers F, which are pivoted inside oftheprovision-chamber. Ifthere is only one door, this rod will pass throughonly a single crank-lever; but if there are two or more doors the rodwill pass through two or more cranklevers, as is here shown. Oppositeeach door or pair of doors the cranklever F will he pivoted in such aposition that when the door is closed it will strike against the lowerend of the lever and tilt its upper end upward. Where there are twoormore doors, placedone above the other, the operating-rod will have asuitable projection secured rigidly to it opposite the upper lever, sothat when this crank-lever is left free to move its upper end willstrike upon the top of the projection, so as to force the operatingroddownward and throughthe rod to close the cut-off. The lower end of theoperating-rod is bent orV turned after it passes through the lower oneof the crank-levers, so that when the upper end of this crank'lever isforced downward by its spring it will carry the Operating-rod with it.Secured to this operating-rod opposite the upper one of the crankleversis a suitable projection, upon the top ot' which the upper end ot' thetop crank-lever will be made to catch. Secured inside of theprovision-chamber at any suitable point is a suitable spring, G, foreach operating-lever, and which is made to catch in or against thelevers which operate the rod. The free ends of these springs are made tooperate the cranklevers, so as to exert a constant downward pressureupon them and keep the levers pressed downward when they are left. freeto move. Vhenever one of the doors of the provisiom chamber is openedthe spring instantly forces the crank-lever downward, and when the dooris closed it strikes against the lower end ofthe crank-lever and forcesits upper end upward for thepurpose of movin gthe operating-rcd up- 'ICO' ward at the same time, and thus operate the cutoft'. These projectionsare fastened to the operating-rod below each crank-lever, except thebottom one, Where the end of the rod is bent. All of the crank-leverselevate the rod E by frictional contact, so that when any one of thelevers is moved the rod will be made to elevate jections on the rodopposite the door, so as tov force it downward, when the rod will movethrough the other operating-levers, and thus operate the cut-off.

Instead of the springs here shown, weights may be used for the samepurpose. Each weight will then have a hole made through it and be passedover the rod E, and the ends of the crank-levers F will then be `made tocatch under the weights and raise them upward. l

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a refrigerator, the combination of the doors of theprovision-chamber, the ice-chamber B, a cut-off, D, a connecting-rod, E,attached thereto, and which passes down through the upper end of each ofthe crank-levers F, a projection on the rod below the upper end of eachlever, and springs Gr, which havetheir free ends attached directly tothe crank-levers F, so as to keep their upper ends forced constantlydownward when they are left free to move, substantially as shown anddescribed.

In testimony whereofI do affix my signature 4o in presence of twowitnesses.

JUDSON A. BALDWIN.

'Vitnesses:

E. R. POWELL, CHARLES E. ALLEN.

